Performing an asynchronous memory move (AMM) via execution of AMM store instruction within the instruction set architecture

ABSTRACT

A data processing system with a processor and memory includes an instruction set architecture (ISA) that provides an asynchronous memory move (AMM) store (ST) instruction. When the processor executes the AMM ST instruction, the processor performs a series of functions, which initiates an asynchronous memory move (AMM) operation. The AMM ST instruction moves data from a first memory location having a first real address to a second memory location having a second real address by: (a) performing a move of the data in virtual address space utilizing a source effective address that is memory mapped to the first memory location and a destination effective address that is memory mapped to the second memory location. When the move is completed in the virtual address space, the AMM operation performs the physical move of the data to the second memory location outside the processor core, without processor involvement.

GOVERNMENT RIGHTS

This invention was made with United States Government support underAgreement No. HR0011-07-9-0002 awarded by DARPA. The Government hascertain rights in the invention.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to the following co-pending U.S.patent applications, filed on even date herewith and incorporated hereinby reference in their entirety:

-   -   Ser. No. 12/024,486, entitled “Asynchronous Memory Move Across        Physical Nodes (Dual-Sided Communication for Memory Move);”    -   Ser. No. 12/024,504, entitled “Reporting of Partially Performed        Memory Move;”    -   Ser. No. 12/024,513, entitled “Completion of Asynchronous Memory        Move in the Presence of a Barrier Operation;”    -   Ser. No. 12/024,526, entitled “Cache Management During        Asynchronous Memory Move Operations;”    -   Ser. No. 12/024,546, entitled “Termination of In-Flight        Asynchronous Memory Move;”    -   Ser. No. 12/024,560, entitled “Mechanisms for Communicating with        an Asynchronous Memory Mover to Perform AMM Operations;”    -   Ser. No. 12/024,575, entitled “Handling of Address Conflicts        During Asynchronous Memory Move Operations;”    -   Ser. No. 12/024,690, entitled “Launching Multiple Concurrent        Memory Moves Via a Fully Asynchronous Memory Mover;”    -   Ser. No. 12/024,674, entitled “Specialized Memory Move Barrier        Operations;”    -   Ser. No. 12/024,613, entitled “Fully Asynchronous Memory Mover;”        and    -   Ser. No. 12/024,598, entitled “Method for Enabling Direct        Prefetching of Data During Asynchronous Memory Move Operation;”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to data processing systems andin particular to data operations within data processing systems. Stillmore particularly, the present invention relates to operations that movememory data during processing on a data processing system.

2. Description of the Related Art

Standard operation of data processing systems requires access to andmovement and/or manipulation of data by the processing components.Application data are typically stored in memory and are read/retrieved,manipulated, and stored/written from one memory location to another.Also, the processor may also perform a simple move (relocation) of datausing a series of load and store commands issued by the processor whenexecuting the application code.

With conventional data move operations, the processor transfers datafrom one memory location having a first physical (real) address toanother location with a different physical (real) address. Completingthe data move operation typically involves a number of steps, including:(1) the processor issues a particular sequence of load and storeinstructions, which result: (a) a TLB performs an address translation totranslate the effective addresses of the processor issued operation intocorresponding real address associated with the real/physical memory: and(b) a memory or cache controller performing a cache line read or memoryread of the data; (2) the TLB passes the real address of the processorstore instruction to the memory controller (via a switch/interconnectwhen the controller is off-chip); (3) the memory controller acquires alock on the destination memory location (identified with a realaddress); (4) the memory controller assigns the lock to the processor;(5) the processor receives the data from the source memory location(identified with a real address); (6) the processor sends the data tothe memory controller; (7) the memory controller writes the data to thedestination location; (8) the memory controller releases the lock on thedestination memory location; and (9) a SYNC completes on the systemfabric to inform the processor that the data move has finally completed.

Inherent in the above process are several built-in latencies, whichforces the processor to wait until the end of most of the aboveprocesses before the processor may resume processing subsequentlyreceived instructions. Examples of these built in latencies include: (a)the TLB having to convert the effective address (EA) of the operation tothe corresponding real address via the TLB or ERAT to determine whichphysical memory location that EA is pinned to; (b) the memory controllerretrieving the data from the source memory location, directing thesourced data to the processor chip and then forwarding the data from theprocessor chip to the destination memory location; and (c) and lockacquisition process.

The lock acquisition process and issuance of the SYNC prevents overwriteof the data during the data move operation. The SYNC instruction at theend of the data move process ensures that the memory subsystem retainsthe data coherency exists among the various processing units.

However, a large portion of the latency in performing data operations,such as with memory moves, involves the actual movement of the data fromthe first real address location (the source location) to the second realaddress location (the destination location). During such movement, thedata is pinned to a specific real address to prevent the occurrence of amanage exception. The processor has to wait on completion of the addresstranslation by the TLB and acquisition of the lock before proceedingwith completing the operation and subsequent operations. Developers arecontinually seeking ways to improve the speed (reduce the latency) ofsuch memory access data operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A data processing system with a processor and memory includes aninstruction set architecture (ISA) that provides an asynchronous memorymove (AMM) store (ST) instruction. When the processor executes the AMMST instruction, the processor performs a series of functions, whichinitiates an asynchronous memory move (AMM) operation. The AMM STinstruction moves data from a first memory location having a first realaddress to a second memory location having a second real address by: (a)performing a move of the data in virtual address space utilizing asource effective address that is memory mapped to the first memorylocation and a destination effective address that is memory mapped tothe second memory location. When the move is completed in the virtualaddress space, the AMM operation performs the physical move of the datato the second memory location outside the processor core, withoutprocessor involvement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the illustrativeembodiments are set forth in the appended claims. These embodiments,however, will best be understood by reference to the following detaileddescription of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1A-1C are block diagrams illustrating three configurations of asymmetric multiprocessor data processing system (SMP) within which aprocessor may initiate execution of an asynchronous memory move (AMM)operation, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration ofcomponents utilized to perform AMM operations, according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exampleasynchronous memory mover (or AMM logic), according to one embodiment;

FIGS. 4A-4E are a block diagram representations of an example AMM SToreinstruction, two example AMM Terminate ST instructions, and two exampleST SYNC instructions, according to the described embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the method by which the processorexecutes an AMM ST instruction and triggers performance of the AMMoperation, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the method by which the processorgenerates and issues an AMM barrier operation in response to detectionof an address conflict, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating another method by which theprocessor responds to possible address conflicts encountered during anAMM operation, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the method by which the processorcontinues to execute an AMM operation during execution of a barrieroperation that halts execution of the other non-AMM operations,according to one embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the method by which the asynchronousmemory mover suspends, halts, and resumes an AMM operation and providessupport for a partially completed AMM operation, in accordance withdescribed embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the method of maintaining datacache coherency following an AMM operation via direct cache injection ofdata and cache state updates, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the method of performing cacheinjection and subsequent data pre-fetching when the AMM operationinvolves movement of a large amount of data, according to oneembodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram representation of components involved in theperformance of data prefetch from the data being moved by an AMMoperation, according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS A. Overview

The embodiments illustrated and described herein provide a dataprocessing system and method, which enable completion of an asynchronousmovement of data from a first physical memory location (source) to asecond physical memory location (destination), with the processorperforming only an effective address (processor level) move of the data.That is, the processor utilizes the effective addresses, in lieu of thereal addresses, to trigger initiating and processor level completion ofthe move operation in effective address space from a source effectiveaddress to a destination effective address.

An asynchronous memory mover (which is an off-chip logicdevice/component) performs the actual movement of data within the realaddress space. However, once the process completes the initiation andtransfer of the data from the source effective address to thedestination effective address, the process forwards the address andother relevant parameters to registers accessible to the asynchronousmemory mover, to trigger the asynchronous memory mover to complete theactual data movement. The asynchronous memory mover (hereinafterreferred to simply as AMM or AMM logic), completes the asynchronousmemory move operation (referred to hereinafter as an AMM operation).

Notably, the embodiments refer to the operations and the devices as“asynchronous” to highlight the processor continues processing otheroperations, received subsequent to the receipt and execution of theinstruction to move data, while the AMM mover continues the actual moveof physical data within the real memory space. The AMM operation thusproceeds in parallel or concurrently with other processor operations andAMM operations as well (in one embodiment).

Modifications and/or enhancements to the instruction set architecture(ISA) includes providing support various new instructions that theprocessor executes to trigger completion of an AMM operation and/or stopor pause or check the status of completion of an AMM operation.

In the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, specificexemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the various embodiments, and it is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical,architectural, programmatic, mechanical, electrical, and other changesmay be made without departing from the spirit or scope attributed to theembodiments. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the embodiments is definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

Within the descriptions of the figures, similar elements are providedsimilar names and reference numerals as those of the previous figure(s),except that suffixes may be added, when appropriate, to differentiatesuch elements. Where a later figure utilizes the element in a differentcontext or with different functionality, the element is provided adifferent leading numeral representative of the figure number. Thespecific numerals assigned to the elements are provided solely to aid inthe description and not meant to imply any limitations (structural orfunctional) on the invention.

It is understood that the use of specific component, device and/orparameter names are for example only and not meant to imply anylimitations on the invention. The invention may thus be implemented withdifferent nomenclature/terminology utilized to describe thecomponents/devices/parameters herein, without limitation. Each termutilized herein is to be given its broadest interpretation given thecontext in which that term is utilized. For example, as utilized herein,the term “data” should be given the broadest possible interpretation asreferring to any content stored within a first memory location that maybe moved to another memory location. Thus, data may includeinstructions, pseudo code, and the like, for example.

B. Hardware Features

Turning now to the figures, and in particular to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C,which illustrate three configurations of an example SMP 100 within whichthe embodiments are advantageously implemented. Because the three SMPshave similar components, the three configurations are described with asingle description. SMP 100 comprises a plurality of processormodules/chips, two of which, processor chip 102A and 102B, are depicted.Processor chips 102A, 102B each comprise one or more central processingunits (CPU), although for illustrative purposes, two such CPUs, CPU104A, 104B, are shown on each example chip. Throughout the descriptionherein, the terms CPU and processor will be utilized interchangeably asreferring to the same component.

In the configuration of FIG. 1A, processor chips 102A, 102B includeshared L2 cache 106, a translation look-aside buffer (TLB) 105, andon-chip memory controller 108. Processor chips 102A, 102B of FIG. 1Balso includes shared L2 cache 106 and TLB 105; However, the memorycontroller 108 is located off-chip, connected to the processor chip102A, 102B and to memory 110A, 110B via a system bus 109 and memory bus(not referenced), respectively. While illustrated on-chip within theillustrative embodiment, other embodiments may provide the shared L2cache as a separate component that is physically located off theprocessor die. As further illustrated, L2 cache 106 connects to sharedL3 cache 130.

Processor chips 102A, 102B and L3 cache 130 connect to system memory 110via system interconnect (or system bus) 109. Actual access to memory110A, 110B is controlled by memory controller 108, regardless of thecontroller's location on or off chip. It is further appreciated that themechanism for connecting the processor chips 102A, 102B and L3 cache tomemory 110A, 110B may be a switch, which directly coupled each device toeach other. The embodiments of data processing system 100 provide adistributed system memory configuration, by which two separate systemmemories, memory 110A, 110B, and corresponding memory controllers 108connect to the system bus, as a representative set of distributedmemory. Memory controller(s) 108 connect to the memory and/or processorchips in one of three different configurations, which are illustrated byFIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C. In other embodiments, the distributed memory maycomprise any number of individual memory components connected via thesystem bus 109 or other connection method to SMP 100. Also, while shownas a distributed system memory 110A, 110B, other embodiments may providefor a configuration having only a single system memory.

Other components provided within SMP 100 include physical storage 120,input/output devices and corresponding controllers, generallyrepresented as I/O 122, and a network interface card (NIC) 125. As willbe explained in greater detail below, NIC 125 enables SMP 122 to connectto and communicate with other remote devices, such as remote destinationnode 130, via a network, such as the Internet (not shown). Remotedestination node 130 may be similarly configured to SMP 100, but notnecessarily so. More importantly, in one embodiment, remote destinationnode 130 shares a global address space (GAS) with SMP 100, such thatboth devices utilize a same set of effective addresses (EAs), some ofwhich are mapped to local memory on each device. With this configurationof shared EAs, the processor may perform operations, which source datato or from the physical memory of the remote destination node 130.

The illustrated configuration of processors and memory subsystem (ofcaches and system memory) within data processing systems are presentedherein for illustrative purposes only. Those skilled in the artunderstand that various functional features of the described embodimentsare fully applicable to a system configuration that comprises a singleCPU and/or a single processor chip, as well as a single system memory.The functional features of the embodiments described herein thereforeapply to different configurations of data processing systems that (a)include some mechanism or logic for processing asynchronous memory moveoperations using EAs within a store operation and (b) provide a platformthat supports the various functional features described herein.

B.1 Asynchronous Memory Mover (Special Off-Chip AMM Logic & TLB)

FIG. 2 provides a more detailed illustration of the functionalcomponents within a processor-to-memory configuration 200.Processor-to-memory configuration 200 depicts a more detailed view ofthe connection between components of example processor chip 102 (FIG. 1)and connected memory subsystem that enable/support AMM operations. Asshown, CPU 104 includes instruction fetch unit (IFU) 201, or aninstruction sequencer, which fetches instructions, such as AMM SToreinstruction 400 (described below with reference to FIG. 4), from L1I-cache 203.

CPU 104 also comprises execution units 209 (not individuallyidentified). Execution units perform operations on data based on thereceived instructions. In some operations, the execution units 209 alsoprovide data to or utilize data from various processor registers 211, ofwhich general purpose registers (GPRS) 211A, special purpose registers(SPRs) 211B and other registers 211C are shown.

As shown, processor-to-memory configuration 200 comprises AMM mover,utilized to perform several of the novel features described by theembodiments herein. In the described embodiments, AMM mover 220 islocated off-chip, and couples to the memory controller 108 via thesystem bus (or interconnect switch). Also, AMM mover 220 includes or iscoupled to off-chip TLB 205. CPU 104 includes AMM logic 222 by which CPU104 detects AMM ST instructions (and other AMM related instructions) andcommunicate information to/from AMM mover 220. FIG. 3, described below,provides a more detailed description of AMM mover 220 and the functionalelements associated therewith. As described in greater detail below, inone embodiment, the CPU 104 communicates with the AMM mover 220utilizing particular ones of the processor architected registers 211.

In addition to L1 I-cache 203, CPU 102 also includes a L1 D-cache 205,which together represents a bifurcated L1 instruction and data cache.The L1 caches 203, 205 couple to translation lookaside buffer (TLB) 208(or Effective-to-Real Address translation table (ERAT)), and also coupleto lower level, L2 cache 106. L2 cache 106 has an associated cachedirectory 207 for updating cache states and tracking addresses of cachelines and moved data. L2 cache 106 couples to system memory 110, perhapsindirectly through an L3 or even lower level cache.

System memory 110 contains a plurality of physical memory locations forstoring data (and instructions), which locations are accessible via anassociated real address. System memory 110 also contains page table 212,which memory controller 108 utilizes to find real address spaces withinsystem memory 110. As provided, memory 110 also provided at least tworeal address spaces, namely, real address space A 213, corresponding toa first (originating) memory location, and real address space B 215,corresponding to a second (destination) memory location within thedescribed embodiments. Finally, according to the described embodiment,memory includes a plurality of memory-mapped architected registers(MMARs) 217, which the compiler or operating system allocates to theprocessor when the compiler binds the application to enablecommunication with the AMM mover 220.

B.2 AMM Mover Components (AMM Logic)

FIG. 3 provides a more detailed view of the internal structure of AMMmover 220. As provided, AMM mover 220 comprises processing logic 311 anda series of registers for storing information related to received andongoing AMM operations. Within or associated with processing logic isTLB 305, which may be synonymous with TLB 205 (FIG. 2, illustratedexternal to AMM mover 220) depending on the location of TLB 305 relativeto AMM mover 220. Included among the registers are AMMoperation-in-progress flag 301, status/control information 311A, sourceeffective address (EA) 305A, destination EA 307, data size or count(CNT) 309A, and cache state bits 313A. AMM operation-in-progress flag301 provides a mechanism by which a processor may quickly check forwhether a previously-initiated AMM operation is still ongoing. Thus,flag 301 may be a single bit flag with a “1” value indicating thepresence of an ongoing AMM operation and a “0” value indicating thatthere is no AMM operation currently in progress. Data size or count(CNT) register 309 stores the size/amount of data being transferred tothe destination by the AMM operation. Status/Control register 311Aprovide some additional information about the actual status of anongoing AMM operation. Some possible status indicators include: paused,stopped, conflict detected, completed, and the like.

Notably, AMM mover 220 may simultaneously maintain multiple sets ofregisters (illustrated by “A . . . B” of several of the above describedregisters), with each set allocated to storing information for adifferent AMM operation that may be concurrently performed. Theperformance of overlapping or concurrent AMM operations is described indetail below.

Depending on the embodiment, AMM mover 220 may also include cache statebits 313A, which indicate the cache state to associate with the moveddata at the destination and/or following cache injection of the moveddata. Cache state bits 313A may be individually assigned and unique toeach entry or preset by the processor (or AMM mover) to provide a singlecache treatment of all AMM operations. AMM mover 220 also providescontrol registers/logic, including: barrier operation logic 303 fortracking (or generating) an AMM barrier operation or AMM SYNC; AMMTerminate Store 317 for storing the transaction ID (or address) of anAMM operation that should be terminated once movement of a currentsegment of the data completes; and Node or transaction ID (NID/TID) 315,utilized as an additional addressing feature for cross-node AMMoperations. The functionality of each of the illustrated components ofAMM logic 202 is described at the relevant sections of the document.

Barrier operation logic 303 enables AMM logic to generate and/or issue abarrier operation to prevent other operations from proceeding until theAMM operation completes. Or, in an alternate embodiment, barrieroperation logic 303 actually performs the barrier operation beforeperforming the AMM operation to ensure that the source data being movedincludes the latest updates from across the SMP. In yet anotherembodiment, the barrier operation logic 303 provides the AMM mover 220for generating a specialized barrier or synchronization operation bywhich the AMM mover 220 performs specialized system synchronization,where only certain operations (targeting overlapping EAs with the AMM STinstruction) are required to complete execution before the AMM operationbegins.

Finally, AMM mover 220 includes or is associated with an off-chip (i.e.,not on the processor chip) TLB 205. Off-chip TLB 205 enables AMM mover220 to perform the EA to RA translations independent of the CPU 104(FIG. 1), so that the CPU 104 is not directly involved in the actualphysical movement of data once the CPU 104 initiates the data move inreal address space.

C. ISA Support for Initiating Asynchronous Memory Moves (AMM STInstruction)

In order to support asynchronous memory moves, the instruction setarchitecture (ISA) of the SMP 100 (see FIGS. 1A-1C) is modified toinclude a specialized store (ST) operation, the AMM ST 400 (see FIG. 2).The AMM ST instruction triggers the processor to utilize the effectiveaddresses (rather than real addresses) to execute a processor-levelmemory move of data from a first (source) effective address to a second(destination) effective address. Once the processor receives an AMM STinstruction, the processor utilizes the EAs within the instruction tolaunch the data move operation and collect information that enablesperformance of the AMM operation by the AMM mover. The use by theprocessor of effective addresses eliminates the requirement for anEA-to-RA translation to occur at the processor before the processorinitiates the data move. Also, the data move no longer has to be pinnedto a particular memory location and exceptions conditions are managed onthe fly. Thus, unlike conventional move operations, which theapplication triggers by providing a sequence of instructions thatinclude a LD instruction, ST instruction and a SYNC, the describedembodiments enables utilization of a single instruction to complete amemory move by enhancing the ISA to include support for a single AMM STinstruction.

C1. Compiler and/or Hardware Generation of AMM ST Instruction fromInstruction Stream

In one embodiment, a compiler or processor generates the AMM STinstruction from a particular sequence of instructions within aninstruction stream. The ISA for the data processing system supports theSMM ST instructions. The compiler or processor monitors the instructionstream (during compilation or during execution of) the application. Thecompiler then generates an AMM ST instruction when the compiler detectsa pre-defined sequence of instructions (common code loops) that togetherperform a memory move operation. An example instruction stream thattriggers the compiler to generate an AMM ST instruction or which causesthe processor to initiate an AMM operation includes the following:

-   -   LD ADDR1, GPR 14    -   ST ADDR2, GPR 14    -   ADDi immediate, GPR 22    -   BNE 0, GPR 22 (branch not equal zero)

With this implementation, the compiler allocates the particular GPRs(e.g., GPRs 211A, FIG. 2) to perform memory moves. These GPRs areaccessible to the processor as well as to the AMM mover. Section G belowprovides a description of further use of these GPRs to perform an AMMoperation. With the CPU implementation, the CPU includes a hardwarelogic that monitors the instruction stream to look for specific routines(common code loops) that together execute a move operation. When the CPUdetects the particular code stream, the CPU triggers the asynchronousmemory move operation via the AMM mover.

Notably, in one implementation, whenever the CPU receives a firstinstruction in the above sequence of instructions, the CPU buffers theinstruction and subsequently received instruction to determine if thebuffered instructions constitutes the full sequence that performs anasynchronous memory move. Where the sequence does constitute anasynchronous memory move, and the data processing system supports such amove operation, the CPU then replaces the individual operations with asingle AMM ST operation and performs the initial phases of theasynchronous memory move utilizing the effective addresses of the sourceand destination memory addresses. The CPU also paces the effectiveaddresses and other parameters in the corresponding (identified) GPRs.

C2. AMM ST Instruction

With reference now to FIG. 4A, the illustrative embodiment provides a 32bit AMM ST instruction 400. The instruction sequencer retrieves this AMMST instruction 400 and forwards the instruction for execution/processingby the CPU. The CPU then executes the AMM ST instruction 400 to providethe various functional processes described herein and which the logic ofthe CPU are designed to support. As shown, AMM ST instruction 400comprises transaction ID (TID) 415 (which is optional, as the TID may beassigned by the AMM mover 220), source (SRC) effective address (EA) 405,destination (DST) EA 407, and count (CNT) 409, which provides the numberof bytes (or size of data) being moved. As their names imply,destination address entry and source address entry store the destinationand source effective addresses, respectively of the asynchronous memorymove. These EAs correspond to real addresses (RAs) of the physicalmemory location from and to which the data are being physically moved.The AMM mover 220 (FIG. 2) provides the EAs to the TLB 205 (FIGS. 2, 3)to determine the corresponding RAs during the initial stages ofcompleting the AMM operation. The CNT entry 409 of the AMM STinstruction 400 provides the length of the data move operation (amountof bytes of data being moved). Further, the status/control entry 411holds various types of status and/or control information for the AMMoperation.

Notably, and as is illustrated by FIG. 4A, and with reference to FIG. 3,the content of the registers within AMM mover 220 correspond to theentries of an AMM ST instruction 400. This similarity in the entriesenables the processor to quickly assign the AMM mover 220 values withineach register taken directly from the AMM ST instruction 400. Thus, whenthe compiler provides the AMM ST instruction 400 within the instructionstream, the CPU responds to receipt and execution of the AMM STinstruction 400 by forwarding the entries within the instruction tocorresponding registers within the AMM mover 220.

D. ISA'S AMM Terminate Instruction & Status Check Instruction &Termination of In-Flight Asynchronous Memory Move

In addition to the AMM ST instruction, the embodiments further includeenhancing the ISA with other instructions to enable the CPU to controlcompletion of the AMM operation. The instruction sequencer retrievesthese instructions, which are executed by the CPU to perform therespective functional operation. One embodiment, illustrated by FIGS.4B-4C, provides an AMM Terminate instruction 420,430, which instructionthe AMM mover 220 utilizes to stop an ongoing AMM operation. Twodifferent implementations of AMM Terminate instructions are provided byrespective FIGS. 4B and 4C. In FIG. 4B, the AMM Terminate instruction420 is an AMM ST instruction that includes AMM terminate operands 421within the status/control field. In FIG. 4C, the AMM Terminateinstruction 430 is a special terminate instruction, which also includesAMM terminate operands 421. Depending on the processing system, one orboth types of instructions (420, 430) are supported within the ISA andare placed in the instruction stream (generated by the compiler) forexecution by the processor based on a desire/need to terminate theprocessing of a previously-issued AMM ST instructions (400).

As shown, the ISA-supported AMM Terminate instructions 420, 430 includesa TID 415, the EA(SRC) 405 and EA(DST) 407 of an existing/ongoing AMMoperation, as well as the AMM terminate operands 421. With the firstconfiguration, the AMM Terminate instruction 420 also includes CNT entry409.

The AMM Terminate instruction 420, 430 includes the EAs associated withthe specific AMM operation(s) to be terminated, since multiple AMMoperations may be concurrently performed. The AMM Terminate instruction420,430 terminates an ongoing AMM operation where the AMM operation hasthe same EAs. In one embodiment, the AMM Terminate instruction 420, 430may cause the CPU (or AMM mover) to terminate all existing AMMoperations, which have not completed.

The detection of an AMM Terminate instruction 420, 430 in theinstruction stream (by the CPU) or on receipt by the AMM mover 220,causes the AMM mover 220 to immediately stop execution of the associatedAMM operation. In the described embodiment, the AMM mover 220 respondsto an AMM Terminate instruction 420, 430 by: (a) matching theinstruction (400) to its corresponding AMM operation; (b) triggering theAMM operation to complete the store of the segment of data currentlybeing moved; (c) signaling the AMM operation to not initiate the move ofany of the remaining segments of data; (d) recording the address andother information pertaining to which parts (segments) of the data movecompleted; and (e) updating a status field for the AMM operation toindicate that the AMM operation is in a partially done state. In oneembodiment, the reason for the partially done state (i.e., terminationby the processor) is also recorded within the status field.

In an alternate embodiment, the AMM mover 220 may also restore theoriginal data from both the SRC and DST locations. To complete thisrestoration, during compilation of the application and/or duringinitialization of the SMP hardware, the OS assigns the AMM a temporarybuffer for memory move completion and restoration processing. Also, theregisters assigned to the now terminated AMM ST instruction may be resetto their original value or simply set to a default/zero value.

Thus, in one embodiment, the CPU that initiated the memory move mayterminate the AMM operation prior to completion by issuing a second,ISA-supported instruction. With the execution of this AMM Terminateinstruction 420, 430, the CPU also restores the GPR registers (e.g.,GPR14 and GPR22), which are restored to their original states wheneveran interrupt occurs to prevent completion of the data move.

E. Execution of the AMM ST Instruction and Performance of the AMMOperation

When the CPU 102 (FIG. 1) receives an AMM ST instruction (retrieved bythe instruction sequencer from the instruction stream), the CPU, inconcert with the AMM 220, performs a series of functional steps, whichare illustrated by FIG. 5. The method of FIG. 5 begins at block 502 andproceeds to block 504 at which the CPU receives an instruction from theI-cache. The CPU determines at block 506 whether the instruction is a STinstruction, and when the instruction is not a store instruction, theCPU executes the instruction to perform the associated operation, asshown at block 524. When the instruction is a store instruction, the CPUpasses the store instruction to AMM logic 222 (FIG. 2), which checks thearguments within the instruction for an indication of whether the storeis a regular store or an AMM ST instruction 400, at block 508. Atdecision block 510, the CPU determines if the store instruction is anAMM ST instruction. When the store instruction is not an AMM STinstruction, the CPU performs a normal store operation as provided atblock 522.

When the instruction is a AMM ST instruction 400 (FIG. 4), the AMMretrieves the effective addresses (EAs) and count value from theinstruction, stores the EAs and count value in respective registers, andinitiates the data move operation using the EAs, as shown at block 512.The AMM also sets the AMM status flag, to indicate that an AMM operationis in progress.

In initiating the data move operation, the CPU performs a read of thedata from the source effective address. Once the read completes, the CPUthen tags the data with the destination effective address. This tagging,or re-addressing of the data occurs in effective address space beforethe AMM mover or memory controller performs a translation of the sourceand destination effective addresses into their corresponding realaddresses. Once the processor-level (EA) move completes, the processorproceeds as if the actual data move was completed.

With the data move performed within the effective address space, the CPUthen triggers the AMM mover to complete the actual move of physical datafrom the first real memory location (the source) to the second location(the destination), as provided at block 514. Specifically, the processorpasses the EAs and other data to the AMM mover which passes the sourceand destination effective address to the TLB. The TLB translates theeffective addresses to their corresponding real addresses, and then theAMM mover performs the data move in a background process that does notinvolved the processor.

Following the EA-to-RA translation, the AMM mover coordinates with thememory controller to physically move the data directly from the firstmemory location (e.g., location A 203), having a first real address A,to the second memory location (e.g., location B 207), having a secondreal address B. Ideally, with this embodiment, data travels along adirect path that does not include the CPU 104 or processor chip/module102. The actual movement of data into the memory is controlled by memorycontroller 108, which may be on-chip or off-chip, and which controlsother accesses to the memory 110, independent of any processorinvolvement and while the AMM operation is completing within the memory.

With the memory move in progress, the CPU waits (as provided at block516) for receipt of an indication of the completion of the actualphysical move. While waiting, the CPU also monitors the execution streamfor the presence of an AMM Terminate instruction. Thus, as shown atblock 517, the checks each received instruction for an indication thatthe instruction is an AMM Terminate instruction. When the CPU receivessuch an instruction, the CPU passes the instruction to the AMM, and theAMM terminates the ongoing AMM operation, as shown at block 519. In thisscenario, the memory move never actually completes. Also, in oneembodiment, the AMM resets all the registers allocated to that AMMoperation to the register's original or default state.

The AMM mover waits for the completion notification for the actual datamove to the real address space and signals the completion with a resetof the flag. When the move completes, the memory controller signals theAMM, which responds to the receipt of the completion notification byresetting the flag to signal the completion to the CPU and resetting thestatus/control, address and count registers, as shown at block 518. Theprocess then ends at block 526.

F. Parallel/Overlapping Processing Beyond Initiation of AMM Operation

In one embodiment, the processor enables parallel execution of the AMMoperation along with other memory access operations. This embodimentenables the CPU to complete other useful work in parallel with thememory move. The CPU (or compiler during compilation of the applicationcode) continually checks for effective address conflicts, and proceedswith execution until the compiler detects such a conflict.

In one embodiment, the ISA assigns a single bit within the CNTL bits ofthe AMM ST instruction 400 to indicate when the CPU may perform thememory move asynchronously with other operations. The value of theasynchronous bit tells the CPU whether to execute other work in parallel(asynchronously) or in sequence (synchronously) relative to when thememory move operation is ongoing. An asynchronous setting allows forconcurrent/parallel execution, while a synchronous setting preventsparallel execution.

Thus, for example, the thread that issued the AMM ST instruction 400continues processing the subsequently received instructions within thatthread. The AMM operation proceeds in parallel with the other work beingperformed by the thread, in a fully asynchronous manner. For large datamoves, the AMM may perform the single instruction in stages, whileletting other tasks complete in parallel.

In one embodiment, the processor performs a pseudo-speculativeprocessing, but does so with the AMM flag and status bits set toindicate the location of the move within the execution stream when theother instructions are executed. In another embodiment, the processoralso utilizes the special architected registers to store stateinformation that would enable the processor to restore back to theexecution point preceding the overlapping execution. Thus, the describedembodiments provide support for three points of parallel (“speculative”)execution: (1) beyond the move operation; (2) past a barrier operation;and (3) beyond completion of a partial move. The latter two aredescribed below. The thread thus continues to run in parallel with theexecution of the AMM operation. However, when the first thread executesan AMM op beyond a barrier, the processor ensures that no other threadhas access to the store (destination) data.

F.1 Launching Multiple Overlapping AMM Operations

In one embodiment, the CPU 104 and the AMM logic 221 (FIG. 2) mayconcurrently launch multiple AMM operations to move data to different,non-overlapping, memory locations. In this embodiment, the CPU 104 orthe AMM mover 220 checks for conflicts with the EA(DST), taking intoconsideration the length of the data move to ensure that no two AMMoperations can target the same EAs or overlap in the EA space (e.g.,EA(DST1)+CNT1 not equal to EA(DST2), where DST1 and DST2 respectivelyrepresents the first and second destination addresses). Once the CPUand/or AMM mover verifies that no overlap exists with the destinationaddresses, the AMM initiates the second AMM operation. If a conflictexists, the CPU/AMM responds by: (a) holding the second AMM operationuntil the AMM receives a completion notification for the first AMMoperation; or (b) giving deference to the second received AMM STinstruction 400 as providing the most current version of the data withinthe destination address space, stopping the first AMM operation; andinitiating the second AMM operation. The second response assumes thatthe second, later-issued AMM operation moves data into a memory locationthat completely overlaps the location in which the data of the first AMMoperation is being moved.

In one embodiment, in order to monitor and uniquely distinguishcompletion of each separate AMM operation, the AMM mover provides aunique tag that is appended to the address tag of the read operationsent to the source address. The tag may be stored in an M bit register,where M is a design parameter selected to support the maximum number ofpossible concurrent AMM operations on the system, such that each AMMoperation has a different value placed in the register.

FIG. 6 illustrates the method by which the CPU (and/or AMM mover)responds to requests to issue multiple overlapping AMM operations,according to one embodiment. The method of FIG. 6 begins at block 602,and proceeds to block 604, which illustrates the CPU receiving aninstruction from the I-cache. Similar to FIG. 5, the CPU determines atblock 606 whether the instruction is for a memory access operation (i.e.a LD or ST instruction). When the new instruction does not provide amemory access operation, the CPU performs the new operation, as shown atblock 608. When the instruction is for a memory access operation, theCPU next determines at block 610 whether the AMM mover is performinganother (previous) AMM operation. The determination may entail a simplecheck of the value of the flag (301, FIG. 3). Assuming the AMM moverdoes not have an ongoing AMM operation, the CPU next determines whetherthe instruction is for an AMM operation. When the instruction triggersan AMM operation, with no existing (i.e., currently executing) AMMoperations, the CPU initiates execution of the AMM ST instruction andtriggers the AMM mover to perform the AMM operation, as shown at block614, and the CPU (or AMM mover) also sets the flag.

However, when the AMM has a currently executing AMM operation, the CPUretrieves the EA from the new AMM ST instruction and compares the EAswith those of the existing AMM operation, as shown at block 616. Then,the CPU determines, at block 618, whether the EAs match (or overlap). Ifno match/overlap exists with the EAs, the CPU performs the new operationat block 608. However, when matching EAs or overlapping EAs exists, theCPU (or AMM mover) automatically generates and issues an AMM barrieroperation (or AMM SYNC 450, see FIG. 4E, described below), as providedat block 620. Assuming generation of the barrier by the CPU, the CPUthen passes the relevant parameters, indicating the AMM barrieroperation, to the AMM mover. The CPU (or/and AMM mover) then waits forthe AMM barrier op to complete, as shown at block 622, and checks, atblock 624, for receipt of a notification of completion of the previousAMM operations at the physical memory. The CPU (nor the AMM mover) doesnot perform the new AMM operation (block 608) until the CPU and AMMmover receives the notification of completion for the AMM barrieroperation, which indicates completion of the previous AMM operation.

By enabling the launch of concurrently executing AMM operations, the AMMmover allows the CPU to completes even more other types of work ratherthan wait until the first AMM operation has fully completed (i.e., alldata are physically moved from the source memory location to thedestination), before being able to execute another AMM operation. Theability to perform overlapping/concurrent moves is advantageous sincethe AMM operation will typically not affect any other processesimplemented, while the actual data move is ongoing.

G. Asynchronous Memory Move Across Physical Nodes

One embodiment enables a non-SMP implementation by which the processorand AMM mover completes the AMM op across two physically distinct nodesconnected via a network. FIG. 1 illustrates an example remote node 130connected via a network to the SMP 100. The nodes may be connected via alocal network (such as a local area network—LAN) or connected via alarger network, such as a wide area network, of which the Internet is anexample. One embodiment may involve use of a second-type AMM STinstruction 400 that enables cross-node memory move operations. Withthis embodiment, when the compiler recognizes that the operationinvolves a cross-node AMM operation, the compiler generates a cross-nodeAMM ST instruction 400, which includes node identifying information.

However, in another embodiment, the compiler simply adds some additionaldirectional information in the status/control entry of the AMM STinstruction 400. Thus, for example, the compiler includes a destinationnode ID within the status entry. The status bits may indicate aparticular destination memory or cache on the remote node. The CPUprovides that information to the AMM mover. The AMM mover then utilizesthe node ID to determine the remote node on which the destination memorylocation exists.

With this embodiment, the operating system may establish a globaladdressing function by which the effective addresses utilized by theapplication are shared among a group of remotely-connected nodes(perhaps as a result of the nodes executing tasks of a shared job).Thus, the destination EA provided within the AMM ST instruction 400 istreated as a global EA of the destination memory location. The AMM moverwould then include the required logic to ascertain the correctdestination node the logic for correctly packaging and addressing thedata for transmittal via the network to the destination memory location.Notably, in one embodiment, a target of the AMM operation move maydecline portions of the move based on resource constraints or otherreasons.

H. Handling of Conflicts, Including Address Conflicts During AMMOperation

FIGS. 7 and 9 illustrate methods by which the CPU and/or AMM mover(working in conjunction with the memory controller) handles conflictsthat are encountered when performing an AMM operation. The AMM includeslogic for handling conflicts, including address conflicts such asrequests to access/load the data that are being stored via the AMMoperation.

In one embodiment, when dependencies exist for data of the AMMoperation, the CPU (and the AMM mover) provides the data directly to thedependent operations from the source address. For example, the CPU givesdata from the move to a load request if the load is for data at the sameeffective address (destination) to which the move occurs. In yet anotherembodiment, when the AMM operation has other operations dependentthereon, a destination address conflict results in the CPU placing theconflicting instruction in a wait queue pending completion of the memorymove and subsequent dependent operations.

With reference now to FIG. 7A-7B, and in particular to block 720 whichcontinues from block 618 (of FIG. 6). The blocks labeled in the 600srelate to FIG. 6 and have been previously described. When the newlyreceived instruction matches those of an executing AMM operation, theCPU performs a series of additional checks. Beginning at block 720, theCPU determines if the newly received instruction performs a store to thesource effective address from which the AMM operation initiates the moveof the data. If the new instruction performs a store that overrides thedata at the source effective address of the AMM operation, the processproceeds to block 620 at which the CPU (or AMM mover) generates andissues the AMM barrier operation.

However, when the new instruction is not a store to the source effectiveaddress of the AMM operation, the CPU determines at block 722 whetherthe new instruction performs a store operation that overwrites data atthe destination effective address of the AMM operation. If the newinstruction overwrites data at the destination effective address of theAMM operation, the CPU checks for an indication of the type ofprocessing permitted by the processor, whether weak memory consistencymodel processing or strong memory consistency model processing. Thisdetermination is an internal check (i.e., not a coded process per se),since the CPU would be aware if the CPU was designed to permit weakmemory consistency model processing and whether the current processorexecution involves some mechanism (e.g., a bit flag) for setting the CPUto process instructions according to a strong memory consistency model.Specifically, as shown at decision block 723, the CPU checks whether thesystem is an out-of order system. This embodiment is premised on anassumption that the default processing scheme is strong memoryconsistency model processing.

When the system operates according to a weak memory consistency model,the CPU proceeds with executing the new ST operation, as shown at block725. With weak memory consistency modeled systems, the ST operation maycomplete before the ongoing AMM operation so long as the ST operationtargets a different destination address (i.e., does not write to thesame destination effective address). When the ST operation writes to thesame destination effective address, the CPU holds the ST operation untilthe AMM move of that data segment completes. Thus, the ST operation doesnot cause any dependency related stalls, and the ST operations proceedout of order relative to each other and the AMM operation as long as theST operations do not target the same data segment (i.e., a store to thesame effective address).

When the system does not operate according to a weak memory consistencymodel (i.e., the system is a strong memory consistency system), theprocess moves to block 724 at which the CPU checks whether the AMMoperation has completed. When the AMM operation has completed, theprocess moves to block 608, at which the CPU performs the new SToperation. However, when the AMM operation has not completed, the new SToperation waits until the AMM operation completes before the SToperation itself completes (block 622). In one embodiment, where the AMMoperation is broken into multiple smaller moves of segments of data, theST operation only waits until the particular segment of data that isbeing stored to by the ST operation completes. Once the AMM movercompletes the movement of the segment(s) targeted by the ST operation,the CPU allows the ST operation to proceed.

Returning to block 722, when the new operation is not a ST operation tothe destination EA, the process moves to block 726 at which the CPUchecks whether the new instruction loads data from the destinationaddress. When the new instruction performs a load from the destinationaddress, the CPU executes the new instruction, but the CPU may sourcethe data directly from the source address, rather than wait for the datato be moved to the destination address, as shown at block 727. The CPUsources the data from the source address because the data at the sourceaddress remains the same data being moved to the destination address(i.e., the AMM only moves a copy of the data). Thus, the CPU mayimmediately execute the new instruction. Alternatively, the CPUretrieves a copy of the data while the data is in flight from the sourceaddress to the destination address.

Then, at block 728, the CPU determines whether the new operation is aTLB invalidate entry (TLBIE) operation. When the new operation is aTLBIE, the CPU signals the AMM mover to stop and cancel the AMMoperation, as shown at block 729. In an alternate embodiment, the AMMmover completes the move of the data segment currently being moved,before accepting the TLBIE. This enables the data move to be in apartially done state, which state is indicated by the control bits inthe AMM mover. When the new operation is not a TLBIE operation, the CPUdetermines, at block 730, whether the new instruction performs a load ofthe data from the source address. When the new instruction performs aload form the source address, the CPU executes the new instruction andsources the data from the source location in memory, as shown at block732. Assuming the new operation is none of the above example (memoryaccess) operations, the process ends at block 734.

I. AMM Operation Status Check & Responses

One embodiment also enhances the ISA to provide a mechanism (i.e., aninstruction) for performing status checks on the completion status of anongoing AMM operation. Specifically, the ISA provides a LD CMPinstruction, which the processor executes to trigger a status check bythe AMM mover of the completion of the AMM operation within the memorysubsystem. Additionally, in one embodiment, the ISA provides a LD SPR(register) instruction, which the CPU executes to check a specificregister that holds the status information for a particular AMMoperation.

As described above and illustrated by FIG. 3, the AMM mover 220 includesa series of registers, including the status register 311 in which theAMM mover stores status information of the particular AMM operation. TheAMM mover queries the memory controller for the status of the move, asthe memory controller coordinates the data move. The memory controllerprovides the AMM mover with relevant status information, in response tothe status query, which information the AMM mover places in the statusregister. In one embodiment, the AMM mover generates the status query ona periodic basis until the AMM operation completes. When the AMMoperation completes, the AMM mover then resets the flag, which the AMMmover utilizes to alert the CPU of the completion.

Depending on the type of progress being made with the AMM operation, thememory controller may provide several different responses, such as, butare not limited to: (1) move in progress; (2) move stopped or terminated(i.e., mover no longer being performed); (3) move done/completed; (4)move partially done; and (5) software error on move.

The “move stopped or terminated” response may result from one or moreof: (a) unaligned data, whereby the memory move may cross a pageboundary, which function the system architecture does not support; (b)occurrence of a page fault; (c) SRC/DST address conflict; (d) no supportprovided by the memory controller for memory slides; and (e) no supportprovided by the memory controller for overlapping/concurrently performedmoves, where the AMM mover requested a second move operation before afirst move operation completes. Also, the AMM operation terminates orstops when the SMP does not have enough resources (free memory;bandwidth; AMM mover processing power) to complete the move. In oneembodiment, the status response includes a signal to “retry AMMoperation”. The status response may also include information about thequeue depth to alert the AMM mover of the amount of data remaining to bemoved.

The CPU level query may be generated by the CPU executing a loadinstruction (LD CMP or LD SPR) to check on the completion status of theAMM operation. Thus, for example, the compiler provides a LD SPRinstruction in the instruction stream following an AMM ST instruction.The CPU executes the LD SPR instruction, which instruction retrieves thecontent of the register (SPR) and returns the content to the CPU. Thecontent includes the current status of the AMM operation. In oneembodiment, the CPU (or AMM mover) dynamically replaces an AMM operationwith the standard sequence of LD and ST operations when the AMM receivesa response indicating that the lower level architecture does not supportmemory moves via the AMM operation.

I.1 Partially Performed Memory Move—Partially Done State

In one embodiment, when the memory controller returns a partially donestate as the response, the response also includes the amount of bytesalready moved and the EAs of the AMM operation (where multipleconcurrent AMM operations are supported). When the AMM receives aresponse indicating a partially done status, along with the additionalstatus information, the CPU (and/or AMM mover) may retrieve the statusinformation, which provides the CPU (and/or AMM mover) with anindication of where the AMM operation was paused/stopped (i.e., thenumber of bytes moved and/or the EA at which the move stopped). Thestatus information also provides an indication of why the AMM operationpaused/stopped. Possible reasons for the partially done state include,but are not limited to: (1) the AMM operation ran out of resources,e.g., bandwidth, memory; (2) occurrence of a page crossing and/or pagefault; (3) occurrence of an error condition, which prevents forwardprogress; and (4) encountering a TLBIE.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method by which the CPU (and AMM mover)tracks completion of the AMM operation and controls execution of the AMMoperation, based on detected conflicts and other potential issues. Theprocess begins at block 902 and proceeds to block 904, which shows theCPU monitoring the AMM operation for a completion status. At block 906,the CPU determines whether such a completion notification was received,and if the completion is received, then the monitoring process for theparticular memory move operation ends at termination block 922. However,when the AMM operation has not completed, the CPU (or AMM mover)determines at block 908 whether completing the AMM operation (or asubsequently received operation) causes a conflict. Assuming the CPUdetects a conflict, the CPU may notify the AMM mover, based on the typeof conflict and the response required to resolve the conflict.

At block 910, the CPU (or AMM mover) determines whether resolution ofthe conflict requires a stop and restart of the AMM operation. If theconflict requires a stop and restart of the AMM operation, the CPUtriggers the AMM mover to stop the current AMM operation, restore theregisters, and restart the AMM operation, as shown at block 912.However, if the conflict requires a stop and discard, as determined atblock 914, the CPU triggers the AMM mover to stop the AMM operation, asshown at block 916. The AMM mover (or CPU) may also clear the partiallymove data from the destination address or mark the data as invalid.

Assuming the conflict does not require a complete restart or discard ofthe AMM operation, the AMM mover pauses the AMM operation and stores thecurrent status information for the AMM operation within the statusregister(s), as shown at block 918. Then, at block 920, the CPU (or AMMmover) determines whether the conflict was resolved. When the conflictis not resolved, the AMM waits until resolution of the conflict beforeresuming the AMM operation, as shown at block 922. However, once the CPU(or AMM mover) determines the conflict was resolved, the AMM moverretrieves the AMM operation's status information from the statusregister(s) and resumes moving the remaining data from the sourcelocation to the destination location (indicated as the location at whichthe pause occurred), as provided at block 924. Then, the process ends atblock 926. Notably, as described above, the partially done state mayalso result from the receipt and processing by the CPU and memory moverof an AMM terminate instruction (420, 430).

J. Processor Architected and Memory-Mapped Registers for Communicatingwith an AMM Mover and Tracking the Status of an Asynchronous Memory MoveOperation

The CPU communicates with the AMM mover via one of two methods. In thefirst method, the compiler assigns several processor architectedregisters (i.e., registers similar to the GPRs and SPRs) to assist theCPU communicate relevant information (address parameters, control andstatus information) to the AMM mover. For example, the compiler mayassign GPR14 and GPR22 (following from the above described sequence ofload and store instructions that constitutes the example memory moveoperation). The embodiments in which processor architected registers areutilized includes those performed within server architectures.

In the second, alternate method, the compiler assigns specific locationsin memory that are utilized by the CPU for communicating with the AMMmover. When the OS or compiler binds an application, the OS/compilerautomatically allocates memory for performing the asynchronous moveoperation. These memory-mapped architected registers are identified tothe AMM mover, which retrieves data from the registers to perform AMMoperations. The use of memory mapped registers enables the CPU and AMMmover to perform AMM operations with no changes required to theprocessor architected registers.

When the CPU receives an AMM ST instruction 400, such as illustrated byFIG. 4A, the CPU retrieves the EAs, CNT, and control information fromthe AMM ST instruction, and the CPU forwards these parameters to thespecific architected registers (whether the processor architectedregisters or memory mapped architected registers). For example, theprocessor passes EA1, EA2 and count values to respective architectedregisters, GPR1, GPR2, and GPR3. The AMM mover then utilizes the valuesfound within the architected registers (GPR1, GPR2, GPR3) and performsthe AMM operation. The memory controller receives the data from the GPRsand passes the addresses (EA1, EA2) to the TLB, which then generates aresulting real addresses (RA1, RA2) to perform the data move within thememory.

In one embodiment, the compiler defines the particular registers on aper-thread basis. Also, in one embodiment, described above, the compilerfurther allocates specific architected registers, similar to the GPRsand/or SPRs, to track the status of the AMM operation. Thus, one or moreof the architected register in the processor core reports the status orresult of an AMM operation to the CPU. The compiler may also allocatespecific registers to allow the CPU to communicate a termination orinterrupt request for the AMM operation. When (or if) the CPU executes atermination or an interrupt during processing of the AMM operation, theCPU (or AMM mover) restores the values of registers so that theregisters appear as if the AMM operation never occurred. The CPU alsocommunicates state information to the AMM mover via the architectedregisters for utilization when restoring the system from a failed orterminated AMM operation. The CPU adds the relevant state to each of thepredefined registers, and the CPU utilizes the state for save andrestore operations. In one embodiment, the compiler provides thearchitected states at the user level.

K. Specialized Asynchronous Memory Move Barrier Operations

In one embodiment, illustrated by FIGS. 4D and 4E, the compiler providesone or two types of AMM SYNC instruction (440, 450) which are supportedby the ISA. In a first embodiment, the compiler inserts a SYNC command431 into the control portion of an AMM ST instruction 400 (FIG. 4A) togenerate the AMM SYNC instruction 440. With this configuration, AMM SYNCinstruction 440 also includes TID 415, source EA 405, destination EA407, count 409, as well as control/status information 411. In a secondembodiment, a separate AMM SYNC instruction 450 includes SYNC command431 and control bits 432. As introduced above and described herein, theseparate AMM SYNC instruction 450 may be generated by the CPU 104 or AMMmover 220 based on detected address (or other conflicts) with ascheduled AMM operation and existing memory access operations, such as aprevious AMM operation.

The instruction sequencer retrieves the AMM SYNC instruction 440, 450from the instruction stream or the CPU generates the AMM SYNC commandbased on observed/potential conflicts. With the AMM SYNC instruction440, when the processor begins execution of the associated AMM STinstruction with the SYNC command 431 in the control structure, theprocessor discovers the SYNC command in the control portion, and theprocessor responds by issuing the SYNC to the system fabric forcompletion before completing any further memory access operations. Thishalting of all operations includes AMM operation that will be generatedfrom the current AMM ST instruction. The processor may proceed tocomplete the processor-level effective address move component of the AMMoperation in virtual address space. The processor also forwards the SYNCcommand along with the other parameters to the AMM mover (via thearchitected registers).

On receipt of the SYNC command within the control register, the AMMmover withholds performing the AMM operation until notified by theprocessor of the receipt of the completion notification for the SYNCoperation. The SYNC thus represents a request to “don't send data untildone”, unlike the regular system barrier operations, which do not affectthe activation or completion of an AMM operation. In one embodiment, aspecial SYNC bit is provided within the AMM mover. The SYNC bit is setby the processor when the CPU executes an AMM SYNC command, whether as aseparate instruction or a part of the control portion of the AMM STinstruction. When the bit is set, the AMM mover does not initiatecompletion of any further AMM operations, although those operations canbe passed to the AMM mover via the architected registers.

L. Fully Asynchronous Memory Move in Presence of Barrier Operation

As introduced above, the modified ISA also provides support for aspecial barrier operation (or synchronization (SYNC) operation, whichthe ISA adds to the compiler. The standard sync operation, which haltsfurther execution of new memory access operations (e.g., ST/write andLD/read operations) until the processor receives an acknowledgement ofthe completion of the SYNC, does not affect the execution of the AMMoperation, because the AMM operation completes independent of theprocessor operations (i.e., with no direct processor oversight). Whenthe processor issues/executes the special AMM SYNC instruction 440, 450,the AMM (or memory controller) responds by pausing/withholding theexecution of the new AMM operations until the existing AMM operations aswell as all other previously-issued memory access operations allcomplete their respective processes. In one embodiment, the AMM SYNC440,450 stops/pauses the AMM operation by providing an interrupt to theCPU.

In one embodiment, the processor (or AMM mover) automatically generatesand issues an AMM SYNC operation when/if the processor detects a pendingAMM ST instruction 400 that requires access to data that has the sameeffective address as the destination effective address of a current AMMoperation. Also, the AMM SYNC operation may be triggered when the AMM STinstruction 400 reads form a source address that is the target of apreviously issued write operation or writes to a destination addresswhose data is being read by a previously-issued read operation.

On receipt of the register information along with the AMM SYNC 440, 450,the AMM mover stores the EAs, count and status information from the AMMST instruction 400 within the assigned AMM registers and status bits.The AMM may then access the locations and status information at a latertime (after the AMM SYNC completes) and continue or restart the AMMoperation(s) that were preceded by the AMM SYNC 440, 450.

FIG. 8 illustrates the method by which the CPU (or AMM mover) respondsto a regular SYNC instruction or barrier operation relative to theresponse to an AMM SYNC instruction 440, 450. Generally, the CPU doesnot halt or suspend an ongoing AMM operation when the CPU executes aregular SYNC instruction or barrier operation. The method begins atblock 802 and proceeds to block 804 at which the AMM monitors forcompletion of an ongoing AMM operation. At block 806, the CPU receives abarrier operation (system SYNC) from the IFU. The CPU executes thebarrier operation and halts execution of all subsequent instructionsuntil the previously-issued memory access operations complete within thesystem (i.e., receipt of the notification of completion of the barrieroperation), as shown at block 808.

However, as provided at block 810, while the system processes thebarrier operation, the AMM mover continues to perform the AMM operation,in parallel, until the AMM operation completes. The CPU monitors forreceipt of a completion notification for the barrier operation, at block812. Then, if the CPU receives an AMM ST instruction before receivingthe completion notification for the barrier operation, as determined atblock 814, the CPU initiates processing of the AMM ST instruction 400and forwards the relevant parameters to the architected registers totrigger the AMM mover to initiate completion of the AMM operation. TheAMM initiates the AMM operation as provided at block 816, while thebarrier operation is ongoing. When the CPU later receives the completionnotification for the barrier operation, the CPU resumes execution of theother subsequently received instructions (post receipt of the barrieroperation), as shown at block 818. The process then ends at block 820.

Thus, the system's completion of the barrier operation on the systemfabric does not affect and is not affected by the initiation and/orcompletion of an AMM operation. The AMM mover continues processing theAMM operation even after execution of the barrier operation (or SYNC)because the CPU does not implement the memory move operation as acall-based I/O facility.

M. Cache Management of an Asynchronous Memory Move

The AMM ST instruction and execution thereof by the CPU and AMM movercomplies with data dependency and memory consistency rules for normal LDand ST operations in a standard processor-cache-memory architecture.

FIG. 10 illustrates the method by which the AMM mover performs cachemanagement corresponding to data movement within the memory subsystemfollowing or during an AMM operation. As described above, the status orcontrol bits of the AMM ST instruction may include an indication of thecoherency treatment to provide to the caches in the memory subsystem.Specifically, the AMM ST may include specific cache states that the AMMshould assign to the moved data, when sourced from the destinationaddress to the cache. Additionally, the AMM ST instruction may includeinformation within the control/status bits indicating what to do withthe source data and/or the destination data with respect to the copiesof the data within the caches. In one embodiment, the status registerbits may indicate one or more of the following, without limitation: (a)bring data to cache; (b) don't bring data to cache; (c) tag EA (SRC)data with one of E, S, or I states within the cache; and (d) tag EA(DST) data with one of M, E, or S states within the cache. In oneimplementation, the AMM provides data to the caches via cache injection.

Turning now to FIG. 10, which begins at block 1002, the CPU monitors thecompletion of the AMM operation, as shown at block 1004. CPU determinesat decision block 1006 whether the AMM operation has completed. If theAMM operation has completed, the CPU checks the effective addresses ofthe caches against the destination effective address of the completedAMM operation, as shown at block 1008. At decision block 1010, CPUdetermines whether the destination effective address is within thecaches. The presence of the destination effective address within thecaches indicates that the memory block was previously cached, prior tothe update of the destination effective address with the moved data.When the CPU determines that the destination EA is in the cache, the CPUnotifies the AMM mover to inject the data from the destination effectiveaddress into the cache at the location within the cache tagged with thesame effective address, as provided at block 1012. The AMM mover (orCPU) then retrieves the cache state from the status/control registerbits and updates the cache state accordingly, as shown at block 1014.Then, the process ends at block 1016.

M.1 Structured Cache Injection for Asynchronous Memory Move of LargeAmounts of Data

In some instances, the AMM ST instruction executes a AMM operation thatmoves a large amount of data, i.e., larger than can be reasonably storedwithin the L2 and L3 caches. When this scenario presents itself, the AMM(operating through the memory controller) performs a structured cacheinjection to prevent overrun of the caches with an injection of datafrom a single AMM operation. That is, the memory controller executescache injection of only a first portion of the total amount of data thatthe AMM operation moves to the destination address. Following thestructured cache injection, the processor may access the total block ofmoved data via data pre-fetching, using the L2 and L3 caches to buffersequential portions of the moved data from the larger amount of datastored at the memory. FIG. 11 illustrates the method by which the AMMmover implements the above process.

The process of FIG. 11 begins at block 1102 and proceeds to block 1104at which the AMM mover checks the amount of data being moved by the AMMoperation. At block 1106, the memory controller determines whether theamount of data is too large. The check may include a comparison of theCNT value to a threshold value, which may factor in the sizes of the L2and/or L3 caches. If the amount of data is not large, the memorycontroller injects the moved data into the L2 and L3 cache, as shown atblock 1110. However, when the amount of data is large, the memorycontroller selects a first portion (or subset) of the total data andinjects that first portion into the L2 cache, as shown at block 1108.

In one embodiment, the first portion is a number, N, of bytes, whichfits into the cache line size, such that an integer number of cachelines (less than the total number of cache lines in the L2 cache) arefilled with data. At block 1112, the memory controller also injects asecond, sequential portion of the moved data into the L3 cache,utilizing similar criteria for filling an integer number, M, of cachelines of the L3 cache, where M is less than the total number of L3 cachelines. Then, at block 1114, the memory controller checks whether thereare remaining data that have not been injected into the caches. Whenthere are additional data, the memory controller simply places that datawithin the memory (or indicates, with a tag, the start location of theremaining data that the memory controller did not injected into one ofthe caches), as shown at block 1116. Then, at block 1118, when the moveddata is later requested and utilized by the CPU, the CPU has access tothe first N lines of data in L2 and then M lines of data in L3 beforethe CPU needs to initiate data pre-fetching to bring the remaining datainto the caches. The process then ends at block 1120.

M2. Prefetching with Data Being Moved by AMM Operation

The above implementation provides a method for enabling directprefetching of requested data during the AMM operation. While an AMMoperation is ongoing, a prefetch request for data from the destinationeffective address triggers a cache injection by the AMM mover (or memorycontroller) of relevant data from the stream of data being moved in thephysical memory. The memory controller forwards the first prefetchedline to the prefetch engine and L1 cache. The memory controller alsoforwards the next cache lines in the sequence of data to the L2 cacheand a subsequent set of cache lines to the L3 cache. The memorycontroller then forwards the remaining data to the destination memorylocation. Quick access to prefetch data is enabled by buffering thestream of data in the upper caches rather than placing all the moveddata within the memory. Also, the memory controller does not overrun theupper caches, by placing moved data into only a subset of the availablecache lines of the upper level cache.

The above implementation enables proper placement of the data in thecache hierarchy for use during data prefetching. FIG. 12 illustrates anexample memory subsystem 1220 coupled to an L1 cache and a prefetchengine 1210. Similar to FIGS. 1A-1C, memory subsystem 1220 comprisesshared L2 cache 106, shared L3 cache 130 and system memory 110, accessto which is controlled by memory controller 108. Memory controller 108couples to AMM mover 220. During an AMM operation, AMM mover 220 causesexample data 1205 to be moved (copied) from a source physical address toa destination physical address in system memory 110. Example data 1205is assumed to comprise multiple blocks (cache line sized) of data, whichare addressable via a sequence of consecutive effective addresses by theexecuting processor. While shown as originating from a source physicaladdress outside of system memory 110, it is appreciated that exampledata 1205 may originate from a source address within system memory, andthe present depiction is solely to illustrate the physical move ofactual data.

Prefetch engine 1210 accesses memory subsystem 1220 to retrieve databefore the data is actually requested by the executing processor (notshown). In the described embodiment, prefetch engine 1210 issues aprefetch request to memory subsystem 1220 for data being currently movedby an AMM operation. When the memory controller 108 (or AMM mover 220,which triggers the functions of the memory controller) detects theprefetch request during the AMM operation, and the request is for afirst block of the example data 1205, the memory controller routes thefirst block of data to the L2 cache 106, as illustrated by numberedarrow 1. The memory controller 108 also routes the next sequentialblocks of data in the L3 cache 130, as again illustrated by numberedarrow 2. The memory controller then places the remainder of the data insystem memory 110, as indicated by arrow 3.

When no prefetch of the data is detected during the AMM move, the memorycontroller 108 may still inject the initial blocks of some of the moveddata into the caches to avoid potential cache misses if the data islater requested. In either scenario, the memory controller limits theamount of data initially placed in the cache hierarchy. The memorycontroller does not place all the data in the cache hierarchy (L2-L3),to avoid polluting the caches. However, as the data starts beingconsumed by the processor core from the L2 cache 106, the next blocks ofdata moves from L3 cache 130 to L2 cache 130. Also, the remaining dataplaced in the memory, moves in address sequence from memory 110 to theL3 cache 130, such that a continuous flow of data from memory 110 to L3cache 130 to L2 cache 106 is generated. Thus, when the data is beingconsumed, the processor does not encounter a cache miss as the data isstreamed from the memory and caches for processor consumption. Bylimiting the amount of data placed in both the L2 cache 106 and the L3cache 130 relative to the overall sizes of the respective caches, thememory controller reduces the likelihood of cache corruption with unuseddata, while reducing the likelihood of cache misses.

M3. Coherency Considerations

One important consideration when completing an AMM operation is that thedata has to be sourced from the memory location or cache that containsthe most coherent copy of the data. Thus, although the embodiments aredescribed as sourcing data directly from memory, the actual applicationof the invention permits the data be sourced from any coherent locationof the cache/memory subsystem.

Data that are the target of data move operation are sourced from themost coherent memory location from among actual memory, processorcaches, lower level caches, intervening caches, etc. Thus, the TLBtranslates the source address into the real address and AMM moveridentifies the coherency states for each copy of the source data todetermine the correct memory module within the memory subsystem thatcontains the coherent copy of the data being moved. A conventionalcoherency protocol (e.g., Modified (M), Exclusive (E), Shared (S),Invalid (I) or MESI protocol with regard to sourcing of coherent datamay be employed; however, the coherency protocol utilized herein extendsthe conventional protocol to allow the AMM mover to obtain ownership ofa cache line and complete the AMM operations.

The embodiments further enable movement of bytes, cache lines and pagesof data. The relative time the AMM mover performs/receives a move mayalso be tracked by the AMM mover to enable proper sequencing of dataexchange among AMM operations and maintenance of the correct coherencyof the memory subsystem.

In each of the flow charts above, one or more of the methods may beembodied in a computer readable medium containing computer readable codesuch that a series of steps are performed when the computer readablecode is executed on a computing device. In some implementations, certainsteps of the methods are combined, performed simultaneously or in adifferent order, or perhaps omitted, without deviating from the spiritand scope of the invention. Thus, while the method steps are describedand illustrated in a particular sequence, use of a specific sequence ofsteps is not meant to imply any limitations on the invention. Changesmay be made with regards to the sequence of steps without departing fromthe spirit or scope of the present invention. Use of a particularsequence is therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and thescope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims.

As will be further appreciated, the processes in embodiments of thepresent invention may be implemented using any combination of software,firmware or hardware. As a preparatory step to practicing the inventionin software, the programming code (whether software or firmware) willtypically be stored in one or more machine readable storage mediums suchas fixed (hard) drives, diskettes, optical disks, magnetic tape,semiconductor memories such as ROMs, PROMs, etc., thereby making anarticle of manufacture in accordance with the invention. The article ofmanufacture containing the programming code is used by either executingthe code directly from the storage device, by copying the code from thestorage device into another storage device such as a hard disk, RAM,etc., or by transmitting the code for remote execution usingtransmission type media such as digital and analog communication links.The methods of the invention may be practiced by combining one or moremachine-readable storage devices containing the code according to thepresent invention with appropriate processing hardware to execute thecode contained therein. An apparatus for practicing the invention couldbe one or more processing devices and storage systems containing orhaving network access to program(s) coded in accordance with theinvention.

Thus, it is important that while an illustrative embodiment of thepresent invention is described in the context of a fully functionalcomputer (server) system with installed (or executed) software, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that the software aspects of anillustrative embodiment of the present invention are capable of beingdistributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that anillustrative embodiment of the present invention applies equallyregardless of the particular type of media used to actually carry outthe distribution.

While the invention has been described with reference to exemplaryembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular system,device or component thereof to the teachings of the invention withoutdeparting from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intendedthat the invention not be limited to the particular embodimentsdisclosed for carrying out this invention, but that the invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote anyorder or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are usedto distinguish one element from another.

1. A data processing system comprising: a processor; a memory coupled tothe processor and including a plurality of physical locations havingreal addresses for storing data; an asynchronous memory mover (AMMR)coupled to the processor; an instruction fetch unit (IFU) that providesinstructions for executing on the processor, wherein said instructionsinclude an asynchronous memory move (AMM) store (ST) instruction thatthe processor executes to perform the following functions: initiatingthe AMMR to perform an asynchronous memory move operation in a virtualaddress space, wherein the asynchronous memory move operation moves datafrom a first memory location having a first real address to a secondmemory location having a second real address utilizing a sourceeffective address that is memory mapped to the first memory location anda destination effective address that is memory mapped to the secondmemory location; reading the data from the source effective address;tagging the data with the destination effective address within aneffective address space to complete a processor level effective addressmove of a corresponding AMM operation in virtual address space; andtriggering the AMMR to complete a physical move of the data to thesecond memory location, wherein the physical move occurs independent ofthe processor.
 2. The data processing system of claim 1, furthercomprising: wherein the AMMR includes one or more registers for holdingthe source effective address and the destination effective address ofthe AMM ST instruction; and wherein said processor retrieves the sourceeffective address and the destination effective address from the AMM STinstruction and places the addresses within the one or more registers.3. The data processing system of claim 2, wherein: the AMM ST comprisesa set of entries, including a first entry with the source effectiveaddress, a second entry with the destination effective address, a thirdentry with a count indicating a length of data being moved, a fourthentry with status and control information related to the AMM STinstruction, wherein the status and control information includesinformation about a cache state to tag to the moved data when injectedinto the cache; and the processor responds to receipt of the AMM STinstruction by forwarding values within each entry of the store STinstruction to corresponding entries within the AMMR; and wherein theAMMR responds to receipt of the forwarded values by completing a memorymove of data from the first memory location to the second memorylocation.
 4. The data processing system of claim 3, further comprising:a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) associated with the AMMR forconverting the source effective address and destination effectiveaddress to real addresses following completion by the processor of thememory move operation in the virtual address space.
 5. The dataprocessing system of claim 4, wherein the TLB is a part of the AMMR andlocated outside of the processor core.
 6. In a data processing systemhaving a processor, a memory coupled to the processor with realaddresses for storing data, a method comprising: receiving, from aninstruction stream, an asynchronous memory move (AMM) store (ST)instruction, which is provided within an instruction set architecture(ISA) supported by the processor; and in response to detection of theAMM ST instruction by the processor within an execution stream, theprocessor: initiating an asynchronous memory mover (AMMR) to perform anasynchronous memory move operation in a virtual address space, whereinthe asynchronous memory move operation moves data from a first memorylocation having a first real address to a second memory location havinga second real address utilizing a source effective address that ismemory mapped to the first memory location and a destination effectiveaddress that is memory mapped to the second memory location; reading thedata from the source effective address; and tagging the data with thedestination effective address within an effective address space tocomplete a processor level effective address move of a corresponding AMMoperation in virtual address space; and responsive to the virtualaddress space move operation completing, triggering the AMMR coupled tothe processor to complete a physical move of the data to the secondmemory location, wherein the physical move occurs independent of theprocessor.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the AMMR includes one ormore registers for holding the source effective address and thedestination effective address of the AMM ST instruction, said methodfurther comprising the processor retrieving the source effective addressand the destination effective address from the AMM ST instruction andplacing the addresses within the one or more registers.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the AMM ST instruction comprises a set of entries,including a first entry with the source effective address, a secondentry with the destination effective address, a third entry with a countindicating a length of data being moved, a fourth entry with status andcontrol information related to the AMM ST instruction, wherein thestatus and control information includes information about a cache stateto tag to the moved data when injected into the cache, the methodfurther comprising: the processor responding to receipt of the AMM STinstruction by forwarding values within each entry of the AMM STinstruction to corresponding entries within the AMMR; and the AMMRresponding to receipt of the forwarded values by completing a memorymove of data from the first memory location to the second memorylocation.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the data processing systemfurther comprises a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) associated withthe AMMR and located outside of a processor core, said method furthercomprising translating the source effective address and destinationeffective address to real addresses at the TLB, following completion bythe processor of the memory move operation in the virtual address space.